Star Wars and Princess Leia inspired scientists to make 3D holograms a prominent thing

Beyond being a blockbuster franchise, Star Wars and Princess Leia have helped inspire scientists to make 3D holograms a reality.

From the outside, the Star Wars films might appear to be just lightsaber fights and stormtrooper battles.

But there’s actually an abundance of technology features that put the LucasFilm projects light-years ahead of their time.

One being the holograms, which became integral to the plot as Princess Leia’s message stored in R2D2 saved the Rebel Alliance, and it’s now been adopted into modern-day tech some 50 years later.

VISIT SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie

University students create real 3D holograms in Project Princess Leia

Holograms in Star Wars have become a nonchalant feature, having first carried important secret messages stored within droids in 1977, to becoming a full-blown phone replacement by the end of the original saga.

Nowadays, 3D holograms have become a reality, thanks in part to George Lucas’ creation.

One group that has been working on these digital portrayals is Brigham Young University, which launched Project Princess Leia with the full backing of the force.

The project is described as ‘printing an object in space with these little particles’, and the Optical Trap Display (OTD) technique has begun creating images that float in free space.

Having launched the project back in 2018, the team created stationary pictures like butterflies, before moving on to more detailed 3D objects like Charmander (left) from Pokémon and Princess Leia herself (right).

“We refer to this colloquially as the Princess Leia project,” said Professor Daniel Smalley.

“Our group has a mission to take the 3D displays of science fiction and make them real. We have created a display that can do that.”

The images created, at the moment, are still images, and we’re a long way from having our FaceTime phone calls in 3D hologram form.

But there’s no denying that this is a huge step towards that goal.

What else has Star Wars inspired?

While we’re not yet at the point of having droids do our chores – although Tesla is getting close with Optimus – Star Wars tech has inspired a range of other inventions.

Keeping with the robotics theme, Hyundai has taken a look at the AT-AT shooters that dominated the planet of Hoth and has made its own four-legged robot (just without the plasma cannons).

Vehicles like the speeder bike used by Stormtroopers, Leia, and Luke Skywalker have also become a reality, as Volonaut’s latest creation allows for 63mph hovercraft fun.

And the fun isn’t stopping here.

As we begin to get more hands-on in the galaxies far, far away, the space elevators used on the Death Star and battle cruisers are reportedly being lined up to allow for better space travel.

For now, though, Leia’s ‘Help me, Obi-Wan’ message is where we’re at.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie